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Star Wars Galaxies NGE Q&A: The Readers Respond

GameSpy: Many players feel that Dallas Dickinson made it seem that most of SWG's existing community was in favor of the change. Those who mentioned this, of course, disagreed with his prognosis. Can you comment on this?

JT: We appreciate the concerns of all Galaxies players. Though we are taking Galaxies in a direction that can be enjoyed by all players (current, new, and prospective), we know that not all of our current players are going to be receptive to this direction simply based on the fact that it is something different that they aren't yet used to. There was a large outcry initially at last spring's Combat Upgrade, but when all was said and done, we had only lost a very small number of players. We anticipate the same thing to happen here once players have given the new enhancements a chance.

GameSpy: That said, is it the belief of the Galaxies team that most fans are currently in favor of these changes? Considering the changes were just recently announced, where is that feedback coming from?

JT: Yes, as we are giving the majority of our players, including current, new, former, and prospective, the Star Wars game they have always wanted. [This was determined by] extensive focus testing as well as testimony from some of our most-hardcore players who we first unveiled the enhancements to during a trip to the developer.

GameSpy: Similarly, many respondents felt that they were willfully lied to by SOE, who on several occasions mentioned future changes professions that they knew wouldn't be in the NGE. Can you comment?

JT: What happened was these profession changes were announced before the impact of the new game enhancements on them was known. Remember, the new game enhancements were still in development when some of these other profession changes were announced.

GameSpy: Are SOE and LucasArts planning on compensating players in any way, especially those who purchased long-term subscriptions plans and no longer want to play the post-NGE Galaxies?

JT: We have offered our veteran players some great in-game items and incentives that will only be available to them.

GameSpy: What about refunds? Will any be available to players who have, say, 10 months left on a year-long subscription and no longer want to play the "new" Galaxies?

JT: No.

GameSpy: Is the possibility of establishing pre-NGE servers out of the question?

JT: Yes.

What this basically means, if you cut through the PR-speak, is that SOE and LucasArts have decided that Galaxies-as-it-existed wasn't cutting it, and have decided to morph it into a new game that it thinks will have more appeal. Which, honestly, isn't that ridiculous an idea: while Galaxies has its fans, it's no blockbuster. There's no question that MMOs are more mainstream right now than they've ever been, and similarly, there's little question that Star Wars is one of (if not the) most enviable property on which to base a game of this type.

But what for the existing community that was attached to the game-that-was? It appears that at least some portion of it -- maybe a huge chunk -- is going to be sacrificed as the price of progress. The decision may seem pragmatic enough, but it doesn't change the fact that the hardcore players lose. What could have been an entirely new project is instead being built on the ashes of a game that thousands of players have grown attached to over the years, and players that don't like the new system are out whatever subscriptions fees they've already committed to. As customer support goes, we've certainly seen better.

So the big question at this point is: are SOE and LucasArts right? After the dust settles, will the hardcore players who stick through it will think it a worthwhile change, just like the combat upgrade? That's impossible to say. What is likely, though, is that a whole new group of players are going to sample the new Galaxies, and it'll certainly be interesting to see how the new game is received.